We were taught that whoever guards his lips and tongue is worthy of clothing himself with the Holy Spirit. And anybody who curves his lips to speak evil will be harmed by that matter of which he speaks, meaning that if he speaks the evil tongue, like the primordial snake, then that snake dominates him. And that is why when Yisrael spoke against Elohim and Moses, He set snakes and vipers upon them. If he does not, he is afflicted by diseases or leprosy, which is burning like a snake, as we have already explained.

And יהוה‎ said to Moshe, ‘Make for yourself a fiery serpent and place it on a pole, and it will be that anyone who was bitten will look at it and live.’ Moshe made a serpent of copper and placed it on the pole; so it was that if the serpent bit a man, he would stare at the copper serpent and live.

Numbers 21.6-7

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Humanity is endowed with three natures; two of which are manifest from birth and one remains latent until its discovery. The two which are manifest are that of our human and animal natures. The divine nature, that which remains latent, requires activation for its far reaching resonating effects to stimulate our cognitive processes which then awakens our consciousness unto previously unknown levels. Of this latency, Dr. George Perry and Inez Carey speak of in the monumental work God-Man: The Word Made Fleshon page 157, saying

In every brain there are countless dormant brain cells, waiting for the coming of the Air Age, the Bridegroom or the recognition of the “[Messiah] in the flesh,” that will quicken them into activity i.e., resurrect them. Everywhere there is evidence of the awakening of dormant brain cells. Spiritual phenomena, multiple personality, mental telepathy and kindred manifestations are explainable upon the hypothesis that dormant brain cells may be made to bloom and thus operate according to new concepts. We know that there are many millions of dormant brain cells in the cerebrum, especially in the “Most High” portion, the seat of spiritual faculties; or, we may say, the key, which, when touched with the vital fluid set free, “Cast on the waters” and “Lifted up” through the process of physical regeneration, completes the at-one-ment with the Ego, whose indwelling place is the cerebellum. And then the statement, “I and the Father are One,” becomes living thunder and flaming light from Sinai, instead of a popular epigram with no vital meaning. The dormant brain cells may be likened to a flower yet in the bud; but when the substance that is required for their completion reaches them, the modus operandi of the plan of salvation, the buds open, or unfold, and then vibrate at the rate that causes the realization of the New Birth the “Birth from above.” “He that is born of [Elohim] will not sin, for his seed remaineth in him.”

As we will see in the course of this writing, consciousness is a matter of functioning at the peak levels of our cognitive ability, or metaphysically what is known as heaven. At our lowest levels, we are nothing more than animals, while at our peaks, we are the reflection of the image and likeness of our Creator. As such, our lowest nature is typified by the display of primal instincts, self-consciousness, self-preservation and habitual behavior, which manifests as the most base and least sublime aspect of our nature. Human consciousness, or nature, is exemplified by our emotional responses combined with our ability to learn and recall memories. Characterized by sapience/intelligence, logic, reason and speech, the state of divine consciousness, or what some call cosmic consciousness or godhood, is demonstrated by a unification within ourselves, as well as with the collective states of being among sentient life forms which exudes from the supreme source of Mind, and gives us the capacity to utilize extra-sensory perceptions and the ability to bring forth self-mastery.

These three levels of consciousness are connected to the three dimensions of the triune brain, which are identified as the reptilian brain, the limbic brain and the neocortex. These three components of our brain serve as the houses of consciousness by which we are either limited in the brain’s lower functioning capacities or liberated by its higher cognitive processes.

Of the three tiers of the brain, the neocortex, in connection with the state of cosmic consciousness, is the cognitive seat of elevation and integration. Science has recently discovered the connection between spiritual consciousness and the evolution of the neocortex, which is an exclusive physiological development to humanity. As the the newest component of our brains, inclusive of the prefrontal cortex, this is the sphere of activity

…where all thoughts coming from lower brain areas (such as sight, hearing, and feeling cortex areas, and the thalamus and hypothalamus) are gathered and processed to be enriched. Many information and memories gathered from different parts of the brain come together in the prefrontal area to be synthesized into deeper thoughts. Active memory is when different pieces of information are synthesized together and form a thought; and this thought is later acted upon. This allows to accurately surmise future events, and to plan for them. It also allows for a rapid, appropriate response to the signals gathered by the five sensory channels. It allows for predicting the consequences of actions before performing them and for resolving problems of a complex medical, mathematical, ethical, moral, or philosophical basis. It can also postpone emotional responses for an appropriate time, measure the consequences of verbal and physical communications, use will power to measure the ethical and moral consequences of actions, and use information gathered from all channels to diagnose a problem. People who have damaged prefrontal cortexes, have serious difficulty synthesizing information and processing it to form coherent thoughts (active memory). This situation shows us that the prefrontal cortex enables consciousness and highly intellectual actions.

…referred to as the “emotional brain”, the limbic system is the reactive part of us that initiates the “fight or flight” response to danger. Key areas of interest to psychotherapy are the hippocampus, the amygdala and the hypothalamus. These form a very fast subconscious evaluation and response system designed to keep us safe. The amygdala is like an early-warning system, with the motto “safety first”—put that safety plan into effect before consulting the executive brain (the new cortex). Picture yourself jumping out of the way of a snake-like object before closer examination reveals it to be just a hose in the grass. This is a very important first response, because if it were left to the prefrontal cortex to initiate, for example, a leap out of the way of a bus you had inadvertently stepped in front of, then it might be too late: that evaluation system is too slow. The amygdala makes very fast, albeit not always accurate, evaluations and has a fast track from the thalamus (incoming information) through to the hypothalamus that can initiate a stress response to forestall impending doom. The hippocampus plays an equally important role by encoding events in time and space and consolidating them from short-term to long-term memory.

As the lowest part of the brain based in the stem, the reptilian brain

…is the oldest and smallest region in the evolving human brain. It evolved hundreds of millions of years ago and is more like the entire brain of present-day reptiles. For this reason, it is often called the ‘reptilian brain’. Various clumps of cells in the brain stem determine the brain’s general level of alertness and regulate the vegetative processes of the body such as breathing and heartbeat. It’s similar to the brain possessed by the hardy reptiles that preceded mammals, roughly 200 million years ago. It’s ‘preverbal’, but controls life functions such as autonomic brain, breathing, heart rate and the fight or flight mechanism. Lacking language, its impulses are instinctual and ritualistic. It’s concerned with fundamental needs such as survival, physical maintenance, hoarding, dominance, preening and mating. It is also found in lower life forms such as lizards, crocodiles and birds. It is at the base of your skull emerging from your spinal column. The basic ruling emotions of love, hate, fear, lust, and contentment emanate from this first stage of the brain. Over millions of years of evolution, layers of more sophisticated reasoning have been added upon this foundation. Our intellectual capacity for complex rational thought which has made us theoretically smarter than the rest of the animal kingdom. When we are out of control with rage, it is our reptilian brain overriding our rational brain components. If someone says that they reacted with their heart instead of their head. What they really mean is that they conceded to their primitive emotions (the reptilian brain based) as opposed to the calculations of the rational part of the brain. There are almond-shaped groups of neurons located deep within the medial temporal lobes of the brain in complex vertebrates, including humans. Shown in research to perform a primary role in the processing and memory of emotional reactions, the amygdalae are considered part of the limbic system.

Taking all of this information about our brains into account, when considering yet another episode of the Israelites complaining to Moshe in the wilderness in parashat Chukat, a word that means statutes, we can logically deduce that this experience was a demonstration of the grumblers operating according to their reptilian brain. According to David Icke, one of the foremost authorities on the reptilian agenda (a mission to enslave humanity to the impulsive, instinctual and reactionary processes of the reptilian brain), the behaviors associated with the reptilian brain are

obsessive-complusive behavior

personal day-to-day rituals and superstitious acts

slavish conformance to old ways of doing things

ceremonial re-enactments

obeisance to precedent, as in legal, religious, culture and other matters

Operating at this subconscious level of cognition was Israel’s problem throughout their forty year sojourn in the wilderness. In fact, through and through their time in the wilderness, we see the fight vs. flight mechanisms aroused in them and the people falling victim to the this lower brain function without the regulation of the reptilian mind with their higher cognitive capacities. Stuck in survival mode, the people railed out again against Moshe and felt as if their death was imminent as many of them were struck down and captured by the king of Arad, complained in utter faithlessness unto their leader. The Torah records their irrational behavior with these words,

They traveled from Mount Hor along the route to the Sea of Reeds in order to go around the land of Edom. The spirit of the people became impatient along the way. The people spoke against [Elohim] and Moses: “Why have you brought us from Egypt to die in the wilderness, because there is no bread, no water, and our very spirits detest the despicable food? So יהוה‎ sent poisonous serpents among the people, and they bit the people and many of the people of Israel died. The people came to Moses and said, “We sinned when we spoke against יהוה‎ and you! Pray to יהוה‎ for us, that He may take away the snakes!” So Moses prayed for the people.

Numbers 21.4-7

With this episode we are able to see the children of Israel transition from operating in their reptilian and limbic brain to the processes of their neocortex so as demonstrated by the people’s reflection and acknowledgment of their mistake after their being attacked by the fiery serpents. While many will conjecture about who or what the fiery serpents were, what is truly the focus of this portion of Torah is the exposure of the rebellious mindset of the people. Given this insight, the appearance of the serpents in this instance is also related to the serpent found in the accounts Genesisand Exodus. As we will see, their appearance in the aforementioned scrolls of Torah, inclusive of this week’s reading, are symbolic representations of the lower and higher natures that are present within us.

In Genesis, we see the whispering, enchanting, deceiving (nachash/נָחַשׁ) reptilian brain at work to which Chawwah and Adam succumbed and ultimately suffered a degradation of consciousness and vibrational energy. This resulted from their engagement of the reptilian brain, which indulged in the cynical notions of instant gratification, visual stimulation, and self-aggrandizement, in turn disabling the capacities of the neocortex. Their pursuit of fulfilling their selfish interests, incited by the yetzer hara, or evil inclination, induced their reptilian brain to dominate their mental faculties which flooded senses with lust and their motor skills with a negative response to the Word of the Most High.

In Exodus, however, we see the transmigration of consciousness from the lower to higher state of consciousness through self-mastery so as symbolized by Moshe heeding the Living Word which caused the staff becoming a serpent. In further fulfillment of the Word, the staff is then transubstantiated back into a staff to serve as a witness to Pharaoh. This action symbolizes the firing of neurons to synapses and dendrites which start at the brain and travels down the nervous system to our extremities. These messages are the sent back to the brain to capture the full experience sensation wise so that the body responds harmoniously to the situation. We also see this physiological function alluded to with the event of Jacob’s ladder, and Yahoshua’s response to Nathaniel in regards to the angels ascending and descending on Ben Adam/the Son of Man.

To support this notion of transmigration of consciousness, we find that the Hebrew word found at Exodus chapter four for staff is matteh (מַטֶּה), which has as its meanings a branch, twig, staff, stem, span; an expansion, or a stretching out. It also carries with it the idea of ruling with a scepter and the notion of a flowing and fullness of the centers of life; thus, an anointed community of members—of the faculties of man. In this sense it can be said that Moshe was shown that how to enter into a higher a form of consciousness in order to go about the fulfillment of his calling. This was nothing less than Moshe arousing the levels of consciousness found in the neocortex region of the brain.

Yet with the Israelites experience in the wilderness nearing Edom, so as described by this week’s reading, it was their fear of death coupled with their faithlessness that disallowed their higher cognitive faculties from properly functioning. To counter this mindset, the Torah describes how יהוה‎ dealt with this lower funcitoning mentality of yet another group of rebels whose venomous thoughts nearly contaminated the entire nation again. Being that they were relegated to their animal nature, which is symptomatic of being subject to the impulses of the reptilian brain, fiery serpents were sent to bite those who were so disposed. With this event, according to the Zohar’s opening quote preceding this article, those who were overcome by their base impulses and instincts spoke in a manner indicative of their level of consciousness which then reverberated in creation and brought about a reality which was commensurate to their degraded level of consciousness. The serpents that bit them, in essence, were the manifestation of their debased actions stemming from their reptilian brain. There was, however, a remedy for those who so desired to not remain in such a debased state.

As the narrative unfolds, we are told that a brazen fiery serpent (saraph/שָׂרָף) was made by which those bitten were able to be healed by looking upon its image. This pole that Moshe made in the wilderness is representative of our spinal cord, as well as the Tree of Life. In the Hindu tradition, this is what is called the Kundalini energy which is represented in their tradition in the form of a serpent. The encoded message of the Tree of life and Kundalini energy is best summed with these words from Kimm Grae Munch in article, Serpents of the Kundalini Fire,

There are three forces connected with the spine, also called Sushumna or Aaron’s rod. These are Kundalini, the serpent-fire, Ida the female force, and Pingala the male force. The Moon moves in the Ida and the Sun in the Pingala. Ida is cooling. Pingala is heating. The two serpents, around the Spine, has two different colors like the two outer pillars in the Kabbalah Tree of Life, and they have the same interpretations as the Feminine and Masculine energies. They connect Earth with the spiritual world and the spiritual world with Earth. For these to flow the Lotus Flowers, or Chakras, has to be open or running.

For it is when our central nervous system is fully activated and functioning at optimum capacity, and our chakras are circulating properly in a clockwise fashion, and our neocortex is informing our every conscious thought, word and deed, then we are able to transcend both the animal and human natures which keeps us bound to a mere terrestrial realm, when in all actuality, the heavens await our entry.

We must learn to by-pass the reptilian brain in order to THRIVE instead of SURVIVE. The reptilian brain is based in survival mode which elicits impulsive programmed responses (constant reaction to present triggers). Characteristics of the Reptilian brain include dominance (dominate or be dominated), aggression, sex and seeking a mate, rigidity, obsessiveness, compulsiveness, worship, fear, submission and greed. These are all constricting and limiting frequencies. That means that you must develop the ability to by-pass your reptilian brain frequencies through conscious DETACHMENT from the reptilian brain, by first recognizing it for what it is! It is simply a shift in perception that must occur within your consciousness. By applying detachment to any situation through delayed reaction; aka objectivity (discernment filter), you can begin to re-create your reality because you allow yourself to properly use your mind to its full manifestation power. You make life happen for you according to your desires, instead of reacting to life happening to you. You take your power back.

This is what Yahoshua was telling us when He told his disciples

“And as I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all to Myself.” He said this to show the kind of death He was about to die.

John 12.32

This death of which he speaks is that symbolized by the burial of the natural man and all of its carnal, lower natures ways. This is an essential aspect of spiritual awakening in every tradition and particular to the circumcision of the heart/mind in the Hebraic tradition, which is encoded in the idea of being born again. He also tells them that once this elevation of consciousness from the reptilian brain to the neocortex takes place, that an insight and perception of reality will take place as relates to their true identity in יהוה‎.

“When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know who I am. I do nothing by Myself, but speak just what the Father has taught Me. The One who sent Me is with Me. He has not left Me alone,because I always do what is pleasing to Him.”

John 8.28

While speaking of himself in relation to the instructions that he was sharing with them, it was meant to inspire them to also arrive at the level of consciousness that he was functioning on. His parabolic lessons, however, are clothed in the realm of symbols and ancestral maxims and events which holds the key to unlocking the mysteries of the Kingdom within. We see this principle by which he taught epitomized when He shares these profound words with Nakdimon the Pharisee,

Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life!

John 3.14-15

All of these remarks by Yahoshua are relative to this week’s reading and suggestive of a process that we must all undertake in order to experience the transmigration of consciousness from our animal and human nature to that of our divine nature. The essence of the fiery serpent (שָׂרָף) in its symbolic state constitutes a marked difference to the serpent of old (נָחַשׁ), which is both antagonistic and adversarial to the new mind which has been elevated to the region of heaven known as the neocortex. But interestingly, the serpents mentioned in this writing, are both nachash, the deceiving and self-gratifying serpent that beguiles human nature into its lower depths, and saraph, the fiery serpent with wings that activate the process consciousness transmigration through detachment from our habitual and instinctual behaviors with discernment and deliberation. When this takes place, we become elevated to the level of messengers of fire (seraphim/שְׂרָפִים), which is the plural tense of the saraph, or the beings of light that we were created to be.

For this is the meaning of the fiery serpent on a pole uplifted in the wilderness by Moshe. It is the elevation of consciousness and the utilization of the latent brain known as the neocortex which contains the hidden consciousness which brings forth healing and life to its carrier. This is our crucifixion, our overcoming of the carnal nature of man, the conquering of animal instincts, the mastery of habitual behaviors and control over the selfish gratifications of the flesh which, when yielded and wielded, causes the power of creation and Creator to appear within our bodies and exercised through the sentience of our higher functioning brains. This is the mystery of overcoming “the beast” and the adversary of our souls, first found within. It is then, that we will be ready to punish all disobedience, whenever your obedience is complete and we have mastered our own natures, that we will have the capability to overcome all those who are possessed by their reptilian brain, which houses the spirit of the wicked one, in order to bring forth the eternal Kingdom of our Father and King, so that justice, peace, truth, love, humility, compassion, righteousness, favor and kindness reign for ever. For this process is both a spiritual and physiological matter, as Dr. Perry and Ms. Carey explain with the following words,

We can turn to the pages of Gray’s Anatomy, or any good medical dictionary, and examine carefully the illustration of a 26-day old foetus. We see, then, that almost the entire body consists of brain substance in fact, it looks like an elongated brain. The upper brain, or Father- Mother substance, is what furnishes the material from which the body is made. Verily it is the Alpha, the beginning. Degenerates, and people living in excesses, have become greatly deficient in this precious material, and the whole appearance of the body testifies to the desecration of the temple. Man can become regenerated, and thus save his soul, which is sown in corruption, so that it may be raised incorruptible…

The fluid, oil, or marrow which flows down the spinal cord, comes from the upper brain, the Creator or Father, the “Most High,” and is known in physiology as ovum, or generative seed that life essence which creates the human form of [in]corruptible flesh. In the Greek, from which the New Testament was translated, this marrow is called Christ, which is the Greek word for oil. When this oil is refined, transmuted, lifted up, raised, it becomes so highly vitalized that it regenerates the body and “overcomes” the last enemy, death. How can it be lifted up?

By lifting up the “Son of man,” the seed, the word, the savior. The oil [Messiah] in the spinal cord, is the salt which is mentioned in the Bible, and the savior is the seed, or [Yahoshua]. The salt and the savior both come from the same source the same place the Father the upper brain. In the Bible allegory the seed, [Yahoshua], is made to say, “Without my Father I can do nothing.” The material from the Father which forms the seed, has gone through a different process from that which forms the oil. The chemical formula of the oil is J.O.H.N., and [Yahoshua] was baptized or anointed of John, not by John, as it is incorrectly quoted.

If we lift up or raise the oil in the spinal cord, by the power of the seed, by saving it, it must be a physiological and chemical operation within the body of each of us. Such is the case. There is no mystery, no marvel in all the universe that is greater than man himself. “Man know thyself” confronts us, down through the ages, but only a few have paid attention to the voice of the Delphic oracle only a few have looked within.

There is a wonderful “Strait and narrow way,” a real strait, not straight, which extends from the upper brain, the cerebrum, to the end of the spinal cord, otherwise named Jordan, in the Bible. We find that the meaning of this in Hebrew is, descender or “River of God.” The “Strait and narrow way is, indeed, the River of God, for it leads to the Father the Most High the upper brain.